Quincy woman organizes comedy fundraiser for niece

A year ago, Tracy Harding couldn’t talk about her niece’s aggressive childhood cancer without choking up and crying.

After the neuroblastoma was diagnosed in Reese Harding when she was 2 months old, Tracy Harding began working to raise money for research into the illness.

Harding, of Quincy, has always turned to comedy to handle crises, so putting together a comedy night seemed the natural thing to do. She contacted comedy clubs and promoters and was told she’d never pull it off. Harding, 26, is a single mother and college student who works. She had no big connections.

“I didn’t settle for ‘no,’” she says. “I kept trying.”

On Jan. 9, five well-known Boston comics will take the stage at the Cutler Majestic Theater in Boston in “Comics for a Cure.” The proceeds will benefit the Children’s Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation, a Chicago-based organization dedicated to funding researchand clinical trials, and educating and supporting families. Neuroblastoma is the most common form of cancer diagnosed in infants.

Harding’s first big break was List, whom she worked with a year ago when she organized a smaller fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders’ projects in Darfur. In a day, List had commitments from the other four Boston comedians.

She met with the manager of the Cutler Majestic to win his backing. She sold 20 $100 tickets to family and friends to raise the initial $2,000 needed. A friend, Robert Phelke, a graphics designer, created the Web site, comicsforacure.org.

Harding dropped out of Weymouth High School, then got her GED, took courses at Quincy College and is now at Harvard Extension School. She has a son, Brendan, 2, has worked for Blue Cross Blue Shield and now is with the Catered Affair in Hingham.

After she began organizing the fundraiser in August, her niece had a relapse, with another growth in her chest blocking her airway. Reese Harding had major surgery on Friday. Her father, Eric Harding, 30, said Sunday from Dallas, where the family lives, that the surgery went well. He said Reese was in pain but recovering.

“They think they got everything,” he said.

Eric Harding graduated from Weymouth High School in 1997. Reese is the only child of Harding and his wife, Kristina.

Harding hopes that “Comics for a Cure” will raise awareness and money.

Neuroblastoma is a solid tumor cancer that arises in immature nerve cells and most often strikes infants and toddlers, according to the foundation. Its cause is unknown.

Nearly 70 percent of children diagnosed have advanced stage disease; less than 30 percent of those children live five years.

For information on tickets, go to comicsforacure.org or call Telecharge at 800-233-3123. Tickets may be donated to families affected by the disease.

For information on the foundation, go to nbhope.org.

Sue Scheible may be reached at sscheible@ledger.com.

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